Friends

I've been getting questions from my parents about various aspects of my daily life in Nepal.  They want me to write about the details of daily life here, as well as the big adventures.  So, over the next couple of days, I'll be answering some of their questions on the blog.

They want to know if I've made friends.  The answer is a resounding yes.  One of the advantages of living with a Nepali couple and working in a Nepali school is that I'm meeting and making friends with locals.  I hang out a good deal with Sapna and Rabi and they're always happy to take me out with them whenever they meet their friends.  I've met good people that way.  I also get on well with the guys and girl who work in Rabi's office.  I got to know them on the motorbike ride my first weekend here and I usually go to the office, which is right next door to MotherCare, for a bit during my lunch hour and hang out with them there.

But the people who have really taken me under their wing are the teachers at MotherCare (see photo below), in particular Namrata (second from left).  She often invites me over for meals and parties, took me shopping for clothes and jewellery for the wedding (I'll be writing about that separately) and had me over when she'd organised for a lady to put henna on our hands.  She's lovely.  Lhaden, whom I wrote about as a friend I made as soon as I arrived, left a week later to look after her very ill mother in India and hasn't come back yet.

As for non-Nepalis and a social life independent of Sapna and Rabi, there's relatively little.  I've met a couple called Julie and Anil who are friends of my aunt and uncle in London and are over in Nepal doing VSO.  They are delightful and I've met with them a couple of times and will continue to hang out with them every now and again whilst I'm here.  Closer to my own age, there's Jenny, an American on her gap year who is also volunteering at OGN (organised through an agency).  We get on well but have yet to socialise outside of school.  I'm not meeting any other travelers but that doesn't bother me at all.